Non-conformances and other quality registers

The Quality tab holds the registers that ISO/IEC 17025 asks a laboratory to keep.

Non-conformances

A non-conformance is work that did not meet a requirement, for example an oven out of its range.

1. Click Quality › Non-conformances, then click Raise one.
2. Type a Title. Choose what it is About and How it was found.
3. Choose the Owner and, if you want, a Due date.
4. Type What happened and the Correction made at once.
5. Click Save. Lab gives it a number, for example NC-0001.

To work on it, click it and click Work on it. Type the Cause, the Corrective action and How the action was seen to work, and set the Status.

Note: Another person closes a non-conformance, not the person who raised it. Lab asks for the cause, the action and how it was seen to work before it can be closed.

You can also raise a non-conformance from a test, from a piece of equipment or from a failed check. It is then linked to them.

Measurement uncertainty

1. Click Quality › Uncertainty, then click New estimate.
2. Type a title, the method, the quantity and its unit, the level it applies at and the coverage factor k, usually 2.
3. For each component, type its source and value. The Divisor is 1.732 (√3) for a rectangular spread, and 2 for a certificate value at k = 2.
4. Click Save.

Lab combines the components by root-sum-square and shows the expanded uncertainty, for example ± 0.36 % at k = 2, to two significant figures.

Chemicals

Click Quality › Chemicals, then Add a chemical. Record its name, concentration, batch, when it was prepared and by whom, its use-by date, where it is kept, its supplier and its hazard. The register shows how many chemicals are past their use-by date.

Suppliers

Click Quality › Suppliers, then Add a supplier. Select what they supply, for example Calibration. Set the Status, type the basis of the approval and the accreditation, and choose the date to review them by.

Related pages

• Calibration
• Training and competency